French Roast Blend
by notesonlife
Summary: AU. Surrounded by the trees and the distant sounds of the city, his lips cracked a faint smile. Coffee really does bring people together. NejiTen.


_Notes: Allusion to Starbucks coffee. I'm merely guessing that French Roast is a strong kind of coffee, because I usually have caramel-drenched stuff. :3 I was trying to aim this more on cities, but of course, it veered off onto coffee. I'm sorry for butchering the culture of the coffee world, for I have limited knowledge on such topics._

* * *

**French Roast Blend**

Nara Shikamaru propped open an eye, loitering on the park bench. His lazy eye spotted a stranger hurrying along his way, a black pea coat covering his torso and rimmed shades covering his eyes. The man nudged his chin deeper into the crook of his scarf, pulling his hat lower over his face, one hand gripping a cup of coffee. Not many people were out so early in the morning, but Shikamaru as well as anyone knew that such precautions were necessary.

If an average passerby were to notice him, he looked a bit strange, walking so briskly so early in the morning, but normal nonetheless. However, if one, like Shikamaru himself, were to take a closer look, they would see the brand name stitched on the pocket of his jacket, the shine of dewdrops in his sleek hair, and the peculiar eyes behind those sunglasses.

He crossed his arms comfortably around his chest, turning his head up to the sky. The trees were blocking his view of the clouds, and he sighed irritably, his gaze returning to the man. He was perched almost awkwardly on a bench underneath a large oak tree, a bench closest to the southeast gate. The man's features concentrated on the drink in front of him, rather than the newspaper. It was obvious to the Nara that he was waiting for someone.

Shikamaru smirked and decided Hyuuga Neji needed to pick a more private place to meet her. In a city where the most influential businessmen were famous icons, Neji was letting down his icy barrier rather low. And Shikamaru didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

* * *

There were not many birds besides pigeons in the city, but sometimes if he looked closely, a lost canary would float through the air, trying to find its home again, and this put Hyuuga Neji at ease, somewhat. He lifted his head up to gaze speculatively at the large oak tree across the path from his bench. Already its leaves were gone, with no shelter in its branches, nor any golden brown falling and splattering on the grass and crackling underneath his shoes. 

It was the spring of last year that she had seemingly fallen out of the sky.

* * *

He would have, could have, completely ignored the rustling in the branches that early morning on that warm April day. It had become a habit of his starting the warmer weather to spend his mornings in the city park, where the trees around him made a sanctuary in his head, at least for a little while, from the publicity. He began to take a liking to the old worn-in bench underneath a large oak tree and closest to the southeast gate, which would be the closest route to his work. No one bothered him, and he infinitely preferred things this way.

The rustling must have been a squirrel or something. When it got louder, he shuffled his papers and continued to ignore it.

Of course, he was shocked when there was a light shriek and a loud sound of someone falling a great distance. His eyes had fallen upon a girl, sitting on the ground with her back towards him, covered by leaves and scratches over her arms. One hand held onto the bark of the tree, and he wondered if she was hurt. Upon closer inspection, she wore frayed, loose jeans and a simple white tee, her hair bound up in two buns on both sides of her head. She looked around his age, in her twenties, which should be enough to address her as a woman. Still, those two buns made her looks so childish, and even more so by the way she held herself.

He raised an eyebrow, taking off his sunglasses to give a full copyrighted Hyuuga Glare, but of course, she didn't see. He wondered if he should clear his throat and make her aware of his presence, but kept silent, watching with a mixture of irritation and curiosity. Standing, she patted her backside free from the debris, giving Neji a long, rather pleasant, three seconds to examine her lean frame and to put it frankly, nice rear.

She twisted, lifting the back of her shirt to look at the noticeable bruise on her back. Neji tried not to wince, but it was then when she noticed him, and her eyes widened.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled, letting out a nervous chuckle, dropping her shirt. He could tell she was one of those awkwardly amiable people, and thus, a bother. Her brown eyes were large and her features were pretty, in an average kind of way, nothing outstanding that he had not seen everywhere before.

He could not help but ask, "What were you doing up there?"

She shrugged, stretching her arms over her head, "Nothing really." He could see the way her shirt lifted and thinnest line of tan skin was visible. She was rather skinny.

He frowned, turning back to the newspaper in his lap, and the latest news about the Hyuuga Corporation, his company, the cup of coffee warm in his hand.

"Ne, do you mind?"

He looked up to see her gesturing to the seat next to him. He shrugged and she flashed him a disarming grin and sat down next to him. Her smile held no ulterior motives; it was the first genuine smile he saw since his father died so long ago, and it honestly, unnerved him.

Lately, everyone regarded him as a Hyuuga, it was only a polite courtesy to smile at him, because he was an influential figure, not because he did anything amusing. It made her seem less ordinary and more feminine, since the sides of her mouth seemed to form two dimples, and her eyes softened. He felt suddenly at unease, almost _fidgety_ near this unconventional woman, and he debated whether he should just stand up and find some peace.

"Is that French Roast black?" she asked curiously, breathing in the fresh aroma.

His hand tightened over the cup and he wondered how she knew that. No one drank the kind of coffee he did, nevertheless coffee in general, and he had to walk a good handful of blocks to reach that American café.

He nodded, and she smiled, her eyes looking up to the trees in thought.

"I personally prefer their more exotic tastes," she replied, and Neji wondered why she was starting conversation with a mere stranger. Did she recognize who he was? Not possible, she didn't have a close enough look at him. He was ready to stand and leave when she had peered over at the headline at hand.

"Hyuuga Corporation? They've been running this city pretty smoothly behind the scenes, haven't they, Neji-san?"

And he couldn't move from his spot, and she gave him that same enchanting smile before waving goodbye and heading down the path. He watched her back, and he sighed, staring down at the picture of his corporation's building. He pulled his sunglasses off, and a leaf dropped on his paper, a pure green and circular in shape. Oddly, it reminded him of the girl, and when he looked up, she was gone.

It was midday during his lunch break that he realized he hadn't bothered to ask what her name was.

* * *

The next time he saw her, he had been waiting at the same spot for the last week and a half, arriving half an hour earlier and leaving an hour later than usual, a small part of him hoping he would see her again. There was nothing special at all about their meeting, but he wanted to know what she meant by that comment, how she was able to have the qualifications to make such a comment, he (although he refused to believe it) wanted to know more about_ her_. 

Logically, he told himself he refused to allow her chase him away from the spot he picked first, at the bench underneath a large oak tree closest to the southeast gate.

Somehow, he found himself buying the more exotic of the coffees, deviating from the usual strong black coffee he usually had. The lady behind the counter, who used to panic when she saw him, began to swoon when he asked her more about the coffees.

It didn't mean much, and Neji forced a wince from spreading across his face as he took a tentative drink at his espresso. It had gone cold in the weather but it was still burning the back of his throat as the liquid went down. He silently mourned the French Roast black coffee he was used to.

He heard soft padding on the gravel, and looked up in time to see her strolling down the path, accommodating to the chilly morning air by wearing a loose scarf and long sleeved sweater around her frame. A flowing prairie skirt brushed against her knees, revealing long lean legs. She held a cup of coffee in both hands. He averted his gaze back at the paper in front of him.

"Good morning, Neji-san," she said pleasantly.

He nodded in acknowledgement, but questions were already streaming in his head. She sat down next to him, and he sipped from his coffee. It was already getting cold, and not to his liking.

"I see you're trying something different," she commented.

"I took your advice to heart," he said, making sure his tones were ambiguous, but he could not help but add, "How ironic, isn't it?"

She chuckled, amused, and sat sipping at her own coffee. He breathed in the steamy aroma, and he remarked, "Arabian blend?"

She laughed now, a high tinkly sound that pleased his ears and put him in the most comfortable environment he had been in since as long as he could remember.

She leaned back, stretching out her legs as she smiled at the oak tree she had fallen out of last time. Neji asked tentatively, "I wasn't able to catch your name last time." It sounded more of a question than a statement, and he cursed how uneasy he was.

"I didn't think you wanted to be bothered by it," she turned to look straight at him, no bitterness in her voice or in her eyes, she said quietly, "My name's Tenten."

Surrounded by the trees and the distant sounds of the city, his lips cracked a faint smile.

"Tenten-san."

* * *

He wondered how he could be so captivated in an ordinary woman that he would meet every now and then, when she up to it, of course. She said some mornings she couldn't wake up early enough to come, because of her work. He asked what her work was, and she told him she was a photographer. That was why she was in the tree that first time, because she was viewing the city from a different perspective.

He thought that was rather clever and worldly of her, and he told her that, and she merely smiled and said that everyone should try it every once and a while. She knew he was head of a lower, but nonetheless very important, branch of the Hyuuga Corporation, the whole company pulled on strings mostly by himself and his uncle, Hiashi-san, but she didn't delve much into it. They both avoided each other's personal life.

They would speak from as little as a few minutes to as long as an hour, before he had to leave for work, or she had an obligation. They discussed coffee, politics, the trees around them, and the happenings in the city outside. Both of them seemed most at ease in the city park, underneath the shade of the big oak tree and the dew painting the grass beneath their feet so early in the morning.

Sometimes, she asked for the cartoons, which seemed completely childish to him for a capable adult to be reading, but he listened to her chuckles and couldn't help but feel grateful there was a cartoon section in the newspaper.

And every time they parted, Neji realized he didn't know much about her, that she seemed just as mysterious as the first day. Talking more with her only brought up new questions about her, some questions Neji didn't even want to know the answer to.

* * *

"It's nice to see you here again, Neji," she smiled at him, and he looked up to assess her briefly. She was wearing a long black coat and a brightly colored scarf, boots on her feet. He nodded, and she turned to take a seat to his left as usual. He flipped through his newspaper, stopping at the business section as always.

"I don't recognize your blend today," he remarked after a moment, a bit disappointed. It was turning into a game of sorts, and he usually guessed correctly, but he went out of his way to order different things in different combinations just to confuse her, rather than to taste it on his tongue.

She sipped at her coffee thoughtfully, and then popped the top open, glancing into the dark blend as the heat escaped in curls of steam. He turned slightly, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you want to try some? I went to a different café this time…"

He shrugged casually, and her bare hand brushed against his innocently, but Neji couldn't help but notice how calloused and how small and how contradicting they were. He brought the cup up towards his face, fogging up his sunglasses. Irritated, he pulled them off, and took a tentative sip. In the back of his mind, a little voice told him he was indirectly kissing her.

When he returned the drink to her, she was looking intently at him. The world was full of color around him, and he noticed that her coat was actually navy and that her eyes were the same color as the coffee between them.

"You know, Neji-san, your eyes are a lot lighter in person than photographs of you."

This comment seemed so strangely intimate, so close to his life, that he was shocked by the comment and he had nothing to say in response.

She pushed the top back on her coffee, and sipped cheerfully, leaning back on the bench.

"Do you know that man over there?" she said quietly, making no gesture towards anyone, contently sipping her coffee.

Casually, Neji looked around, only to meet the stare of Nara Shikamaru. The look on his face read, _I'm not going to tell if you're not._

Gritting his teeth, he replied, "He's merely an acquaintance."

She made a noise of acknowledgement, and for the first time since their first brief encounter, the air was stiff and awkward. Inside, Neji was cursing the Nara for being there.

"Are you currently seeing anyone, Neji-san?" she asked, and he stiffened, pausing to consider his answer.

"No, I am not," he replied truthfully. Although he had always received admiring glances and gestures from women, none seemed to attract him; none showed him a genuine smile in this city, not the way she did. Honestly, he was attracted to her, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her that.

She shrugged, and the smile was gone from her lips. He was just about to ask if she was in a relationship when Shikamaru was instantly in front of them. He smirked at the two of them, nodding his head in greeting. Neji didn't know the lazy ass could move so fast.

"Neji-san. Tenten-san."

His brows lifted in surprise, and he glanced at his companion. She knew him? The Naras were a respectable family, prominent architects of major buildings, and contributed much to his wing recently constructed into the Hyuuga Corporation.

The genuine smile was back on her face and she replied back, "Shika-san, it's been a while."

"You two seem to have a little tradition here," he observed lightly, hands in his pockets as he slouched, "It's rather troublesome getting up so early in the morning."

Tenten smiled, and then she stood up. Neji was trying very hard not to glare holes into the Nara. Who did he think he was…

"Well, Neji-san and I were just going to catch some breakfast, before I head to the studio and Neji-san to his work, so I'll catch up with you later?"

Shikamaru nodded, and they exchanged a furtive smile, before she leaned up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Neji visibly twitched.

She looked at him, waved goodbye to Shikamaru who was heading the opposite way and they walked slowly towards the gate. Stopping by a nearby garbage, Neji dropped his half-finished coffee into the can, shoving his hands in his pockets, looking ahead.

He was brooding, but Tenten was chuckling at him amusedly, and by the time they reached the gate back into the bustling of the city, his ill-tempered mood had evaporated into the cold air. He had already eaten, but he would just have something with her and skip lunch, he decided.

"Where do you want to eat?" he asked, at lost of what to do. Tenten finished the last of her coffee, dumping it in with a flick of her wrist in a trash can and grinned, "You really want to go somewhere? I thought you were uncomfortable in the situation so…"

Neji frowned, and the look on his face made her smile grow wider, hooking arms with Neji she said, "I really wanted to try that new diner that opened up."

He put his sunglasses back on, and opened the gate, taking one last glace at the bench underneath a large oak tree closest to the southeast gate.

Maybe, he hoped, he'll be able to see Tenten outside of the borders of the city park more often. Besides, Tenten looked better in the sunlight than in the shadows of the city park trees.

* * *

_Notes: Little throwoff there. Brain freeze for a moment. Is it just me or does Shikamaru seem more evil-plotty than matchmaker? (: Comments would be appreciated._


End file.
